The Administrative Court on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by 28 Bangkok and Nakhon Pathom residents against former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra in which they demanded compensation for damage from alleged mismanagement of floodwaters by her government in 2011.
Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra distributes food to flood victims in Bangkok’s Don Muang district in October, 2011. The residents were told their area would not be inundated. (Bangkok Post file photo)
Also named as defendants in the case were 21 state agencies including the flood victims assistance centre, the Royal Irrigation Department and the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.
The defendants were accused of mismanagement by ignoring their duty and being too slow in providing early warnings as stipulated in the 2010-2014 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act -- as well as failing to take remedial action to help flood victims, resulting in them failing to prevent or move their assets from the 2011 deluge in time and causing damage.
The court dismissed the case on the grounds that the volume of water in Thailand's Great Flood of 2011 was at a record high. The 22 defendants handled the disaster, issued warnings and drained floodwater as stipulated in the 1991 State Administration Act as well as performed their statutory duties in aiding the affected as required by the 2007 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act.
On July 17, 2014, the Central Administrative Court dismissed a similar lawsuit lodged by 10 Nakhon Pathom residents against Ms Yingluck and her government, in which 3.7 million baht in compensation was demanded, on the grounds that the then-government had taken every possible measure to prevent and mitigate the flooding indiscriminately.
The court explained that between June and October 2011 the northern part of Thailand was hit by many tropical storms and the season monsoon. Augmented by high tides, massive flooding occurred in many parts of the country. Moreover, all of the country's dams held a record high level of water.